BRISBANE - When City Council members put together the city's General Plan in 1994, they knew that the steep, 600-foot quarry set into San Bruno Mountain soon would cease operation. With the city facing growth, the council made a prescient decision: No housing would be built in the quarry.

Eleven years later, a developer has submitted a proposal to build a 183-unit housing development on the floor of the quarry.Brisbane residents testified against a similar proposal in 2001 that fell through.

But on Monday night, the City Council held a public hearing on a new plan to construct 129 single-family dwellings and 54 townhouses on a portion of the 144-acre quarry property, surrounded by an amphitheater of deep-cut rock benches that have existed since the quarry's origin in the 1890s.

Twenty citizens gave their opinion on the housing proposal at the meeting. They all opposed it. But they agreed something had to be done about the quarry, which is now used as remixing facility for concrete. Residents have long complained of the dust the operation produces, which can drift over parts of the city.

"I think everyone in this room agrees we want to see the quarry go away. But I don't want to see it go to housing," said Clark Conway, Brisbane resident and former council member.

Unique ordinance

Under a unique city ordinance passed in 2001, Brisbane's 3,800 residents have the right to vote on any housing project proposed for the quarry. The vote will only take place if the City Council approves all the necessary permits.

On Monday, council members were asked to approve an environmental impact report that looked at several scenarios for the site - the housing project, an office park, or leaving the quarry alone to continue operations. It concluded that the housing option was the most environmentally sound plan - provided that the developer, Western Pacific Homes, makes substantial efforts to protect the three endangered butterfly species that live on parts of the site and throughout San Bruno Mountain.

There is also the issue of a major landslide or earthquake, which could cause boulders to shake loose from the steep quarry slopes and substantially damage the homes below. To minimize a potential catastrophe, the developer would have to cut and rebench the quarry slopes and build a thick wall at the bottom of the mountain to catch any debris.

Councilman Lee Panza said he thought the environmental report did not account for all the dangers of living so close to the sensitive site. "Kids will get through those chain-link fences, and they will climb on those slopes," he said.

Different plan

A local environmental group, San Bruno Mountain Watch, has other plans for the site.

"We believe it can be substantially rehabilitated," said Philip Batchelder, aspokesman for the group. "Either it should be left to heal itself, or it should be of broader value to the community."

That alternative vision includes a natural history museum, a research center, nature trails and a botanical garden. The group has approached the Peninsula Open Space Trust for help in purchasing the land. (PHILIP'S NOTE: I SAID WE ARE CONSIDERING APPROACHING OTHER ORGANIZATIONS FOR HELP, INCLUDING P.O.S.T.)

Citing the need for more information about the impacts of an earthquake on the quarry and other issues, the council put off a decision about the environmental report until the next public hearing on Nov. 14.

Mayor Sepi Richardson signaled her willingness to give the developer due consideration but wondered aloud whether the issue already had been settled to the public's satisfaction.

"If we voted in a General Plan not to have housing, why do we even want to go there?" she said.